World Class 2016 Grand Finale

On 1st June, 2016 the bartenders got a chance to show their unique bartending talent in the Diageo Reserve World Class. The winner will not only get a chance to showcase his talent in India but also he will get a chance to represent India in Miami on September 2016. This is a unique platform to nurture the young and potential bartenders with the right knowledge. The 20 mixologists were brought together from the leading hotels of India at the Shangri-La hotel, Bengaluru. The judges for this event were Nicholas Ord (USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador), Jamie Walker( (USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador),  Serhan Kusakisizoglu ( Director of Corporate Projects, Shangri-La), Feroze Merchant (Head Of Luxury, USL Diageo), Nicole Faria (Ex-Miss India Earth) and Chef Manu Chandra( Chef Partner Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru ).

The Host- Dan

There were total 3 rounds in the competition- The Pantry Round, The Speed Round and The Mystery Box Round. The contestants were judged on the basis of these rounds. Each bartender went through rigorous training procedure and everyone was very excited to get a chance to represent India in Miami. The competition was all about mixing the right ingredients and speed. 

Top 6 Contestants

The top 6 contestants were selected after the Pantry round after which each one had to go through the speed round. The speed round was about making a perfect drink the fastest. 

The Top  6 Contestants in Speed Round

The top 3 bartenders who successfully impressed the judges were announced then and they were: Vikram, Dilbar and Jitender Singh.

Vikram, Jitender and Dilbar with Dan

 Jitender edged his competitors and mesmerized the judges with his speed, execution and balanced cocktails in the Final round.y. Runner up Vikram Ku and Dilbar Singh from Delhi too impressed the judges and the attendees with their creativity and thus earned the second and third position respectively. 

The winner Jitender Singh said "It's real honor to be the Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year 2016 .  The platform has given him the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry and I can confidently say that I have grown enormously as a professional through the journey, It feels extremely rewarding to compete with the best bartenders in the world and represent India at the global finals in Miami. I can't wait to bring the global title back to India "

Let's all congratulate Jitender and wish him good luck readers! 

You can check videos and tweets for the event at: #WorldClassIn 

Garden City #LoveScotch with Anushka and Nakul

Bengaluru is known for its pubs and climate. It's always said that beautiful weather with good music and drink always makes your day. The celebration of #LoveScotch continued on 26th May 2016 in the garden city. The sensational diva Anushka Manchanda and the well known mind reader Nakul Shenoy hosted the event for us. The event began at The Pemit with some candid conversations around scotch and whisky.

We bloggers got the chance to meet Anushka and Nakul and got to know about their favorite drinks. Both of them got behind the bar and prepared a special and exotic cocktail with the help of Andrew Qadri. Anushka went with the West Coast Julep made with the iconic Johnnie Walker Black Label while Nakul created Sunset Cinnamon infused with Black Dog Black Reserve. We got to see their excitement while creating their special cocktails. Anushka shared about her father's love for scotch ans she always gets him a bottle of scotch whenever she glob trots. Vat69 is favorite drink for Nakul and he gets a totally different feeling whenever he drinks it.

Nakul and Anushka

The bloggers then got a chance to take selfies with Anushka and Nakul. We all had a great time interacting with them and knowing about their likes and experiences. 

 

After The Permit, it was followed by cocktail making sessions in the Arbor Brewery and the bloggers who drink got their hands on the amazing drinks made by them. They even said that the pub crawl gave them a chance to know more about the whisky and also show others the love for it.Around the world, the consumers enjoy the Scotch in many different ways. Indians love it with more spices and exotic ingredients.

The evening became more interesting when both Anushka and Nakul showed their skills to the audiences. The #LoveScotch event was one of the unique experience for us to witness the love for music and scotch in the people of Bengaluru. All the people got the chance to showcase their love for scotch and whisky. 

There will be many more exciting events in the future. Keep reading and keep crawling.

Love Scotch

21st May is celebrated as the World Whisky Day and so we had a #LoveScotch event on this day. Every fun element was added in this event to make it really happening and enjoyable. I don't drink but my fellow blogger friends had a great time in enjoying the different varieties of drinks. The event was all about celebrating the drinks with not only the bloggers but also with the celebrities to make it even more thrilling and exciting. There are many people who just drink to relax but in the #LoveScotch event they got to know a bit more actually a lot more about the drinks.

The event started with meet and greet with the celebrities. There were some newly launches scotch cocktails which my fellow bloggers got their hands on. The bloggers got full access to the celebrities that came for this event. The celebrity list included the Raaz actor - Dino Morea, the Highway guy Randeep Hooda, the evergreen actor Mandira Bedi and Canadian model- Coco Rocha. Coco Rocha came to India for the very first time to attend this exciting event. She has been associated with the #LoveScotch event and has traveled to countries to make it happening.

 Dino Morea- The actor with cute dimples

Randeep Hooda-Reel Life Sarabjeet

Mandira Bedi- The fitness enthusiast

Coco Rocha- The Beauty

After the meet and greet session, the celebs were taken to the stage and yet another interactive session took place and also they launched the special scotch collection. They discussed about their favorite scotch and about their first try with the alcohol. Randeep Hooda is a Black Dog lover and Mandira Bedi love drinking with her father. She even said that drinking together with dad makes the bond even stronger. Dino Morea shared some funny stories about the alcohol. During his childhood he and his siblings used to wait for the party to get over so that they can get the taste of the whiskey and sleep peacefully.  Coco Rocha is also a big fan of scotch. Coco said a bottle of scotch as a gift can make anyone happy and everyone agreed with her.

The celebs on Stage

Dino and Randeep then got to the bar and they made some special cocktails for themselves and the ladies. Everyone liked their special drink and they even learned the art of mixing the drinks.

Dino Morea and Randeep at the Bar

The actors really had a fun time at the bar. After this it was the time for Pub Crawling. Bloggers and celebs were taken to the Skyye Bar in the UB city and even there they made some more cocktails. After Skyye, it was time for the Sanchos and there Coco tried her hands in making the cocktails.

                                                                Coco Rocha at Sanchos

The event concluded at the Sanchos and everyone had a great time. I would like to conclude with the note that it was a great event and each and everyone enjoyed from the beginning to the end. The bloggers got access to meet the great celebrities and also got the chance to drink some of the best whiskeys and scotchs. As I said earlier I don't drink but got my hands on super yummy foods. My taste buds got tantalized with amazing foods of Shangri-La. 

Many more events coming up. Keep reading and keep rocking ;)

#LoveScotch